There's no evidence that Apple was deliberately delaying the approval of this app.
Pebble/Kickstarter

Business is a place where everyone is innocent on the outside and occasionally sinful in their inner world.

There was a sense, therefore, of an accusatory finger being pointed the way of Cupertino by smartwatch maker Pebble.

On its Kickstarter page, Pebble mumbled and muttered darkly about the time it was taking for Apple to review the new Pebble Time iPhone app. (Don't worry, there's a happy ending.)

Here was Pebble's wording: "The Pebble Time iPhone app, as we've all noticed, is not yet live on the iTunes AppStore. It remains 'in review.' This unexpected circumstance pains us as much it does backers with watches ready to set up."

Here was my translation: "Apple is dragging its feet like prehistoric man used to drag his knuckles along the floor. Apple doesn't want to approve anything Pebble because it's peddling its darned Apple Watch."

Pebble said that Apple approved its new app on May 18. Then Pebble inserted some "minor bug fixes." It asked Apple to give them a quick once-over.

Then, said Pebble, the dreaded purgatory.

So it wanted all its fans and followers to heap pressure on Apple. Pebble said: "We're sure Apple, like Pebble, loves its fans and is responsive to feedback. Together, we can kindly express our desire to see the AppStore #FreeOurPebbleTime with a speedy approval of Pebble Time Watch for iPhone."

A touching use of the word "kindly." The Web is well known for its kindly spirit.

Still, Pebble asked its fans to approach Apple directly, on Twitter, on Facebook, or by stalking Tim Cook's house until he was ready to call the police. (I made that last one up.)

Pebble currently has 78,471 backers and has raised more than $20 million, so there was quite some cohort behind its effort.